Text story by Alex Roth
The 354th edition of the civil war goes the way of the Oregon Ducks as they pulled away from the Oregon State Beavers in the second half and secured a 69-54 win on Thursday night. The Ducks played well on the defensive side of the ball all night long, and were able to hold the Beavers to 54 points, which is the lowest point total the Ducks have allowed in PAC-12 play this season. Oregon also forced 15 Oregon state turnovers which lead to 15 Oregon points.
The Ducks and Beavers were locked in a close battle for much of the first half, as each team got out to a poor shooting start from the field. Ethan Williams played a major role for the Beavers in the first half, putting up 13 points to keep Oregon State in the game as the Beavers offense struggled in the first half. Oregon’s first half offense was carried by Payton Pritchard and Anthony Mathis, who combined for 19 points and 5 three pointers to give the Ducks a 29-25 advantage at the half.
Oregon was able to get going on offense in the second half and pull away from the Beavers using hot three point shooting. Will Richardson put up 15 second half points and went 6-8 from the field after starting 0-6 and going scoreless in the first half. Richardson’s performance seemed to kickstart the Ducks as a team, as they lead by as many as 23 points en route to a 15 point win over the Beavers. This win marks the first win for the Oregon in the last four games against Oregon State, as they snap a three game skid to the Beavers. Oregon is now tied for first in the PAC-12 with UCLA, and can clinch a share of the PAC-12 regular season title with wins over Cal and Stanford at home next week.
Audio Story: Justin Grossweiner